"Needs done" - is this a regional thing?

[squashyhat]

Not a goady/judgy post - just interested. I'm currently watching Homes Under the Hammer, and Martel when talking about work required on a property says "the bathroom needs done" or "replastering needs done" when I would say "needs doing". She's a Scot and I'm from SE England. Is it a colloquial/regional phrase or just her way of speaking?

@SWnewstart

Sorry, but it IS grammatically incorrect to say something like "needs done" instead of "needs doing or needs to be done". I understand the regional usage etc and that's fine. However, mass usage does not change the rules (for want of a better word) of the English language. It simply means the way will become accepted over time.

Mass usage is exactly how language changes, and how those changes become accepted. It's why all neologisms are regular, it's why we no longer say "thee" and "thou" Syntactic analysis recognises the descriptivist nature of language. Unfortunately, it's true that there are still some language teachers around who can't see beyond fairly simple rules and rigidly use them as a framework. Real linguistic experts aren't afraid to acknowledge that what some consider "wrong" are just examples of this David Crystal is spot on about this.

@SWnewstart

Sorry, but it IS grammatically incorrect to say something like "needs done" instead of "needs doing or needs to be done". I understand the regional usage etc and that's fine. However, mass usage does not change the rules (for want of a better word) of the English language. It simply means the way will become accepted over time.

But that only holds true if you think prescriptive grammar is the only possible structure.

Many people do not, including, these days, most linguists and makers of dictionaries.